We Forgot About the Zombies

I don't really like short movies, and this one illustrates why that is. What is the point of this? Who is interested in yet another short film about zombies when there's already an overload of dull long-feature zombie movies. Most importantly, how do you expect to present a half-decent premise in approximately five minutes? The plot seems to be thought up by a toddler instead of by a guy who already made a dozen of short films (including a segment for "Scare Package") previously. Two dimwits seek shelter in a barn during the zombie apocalypse and stumble upon a bunch of syringes with "cure" on them. But the labels are somewhat worn off, and instead of "cure" it's always a different word, like "cute", "cake", or "curse". This leads to circumstances that are supposed to be hilarious but are painfully idiotic and infantile. The only good moment is the final shot, but since it's also the title of the film, it's hardly surprising.

Of the dozen or so shorts shown at the festival last night (8/11/2023) this is the one I came home talking about. It got the biggest audience response and the hardiest applause. Let's get one thing clear: I'm rating this out of the small universe of short films with which I'm familiar. At festivals like this one, many of them are more like finger exercises at the piano - directors/writers/crew proving that they can establish a moment, light it, shoot it, edit it, add sound to it, and put something on the screen that looks like it should be in a feature film. We Forgot could certainly be a sequence in a feature film, but it stands on its own entirely, and in my opinion shows what you can pull off if you have an idea - even a goofy idea - and believe in it enough to go at it with conviction. That's what we saw in We Forgot.

I have to accept that there is a bit of a spoiler out already in Coventry's review, spelling out cure, cute, cake, curse and so on as the labels on the syringes. The gag is that only the C and E are visible, and we are shown very quickly (that's a key element) that the labels are all different, and unpredictable. We get invested pretty fast in figuring out what the label was from the result of the injection.

Think about close-up magic. Someone does something right in front of you, and you know it's a trick, and you get caught up in trying to see it, since it's right there, a foot or two away from your eyes. And if the magician is good, skillful, and best of all clever, then you are left surprised, amused and completely entertained, knowing that you were looking right at the action and missed the trick. That's very much what happens in We Forgot.

It's "only" a short, so it's not realy worth going any further into this, and it would be difficult to do without more spoilers. There's only a few minutes of action to deal with after all.

The two guys are somewhat dimwits. That's a fair characterization. The accusation that the premise is not presented well is way, way off. This short was one of the few that, although it could be in a longer film, stood solidly on its own, with a beginning, a middle and an end. It's the first one we all talked about when we convened outside the screening room.

I stepped in to review this because I thought the rating of 3 stars was a gross injustice. I'm on the record with my 8 now, and if you get a chance to see this, go see it. By the way, the success of the trick depends on some very successful editing and pacing in the middle section, so don't overlook that there is considerable skill on display here.

Enjoy.

The first question about this very short film, after final credits, is about its purpose. Obvious, it is not a film about zombies. Maybe about two immature friends, who like many other guys, discover toys and use them ignoring the consequences.

In danger , two ordinary men take refuge in a barn. On table, a lot of syringes with colored contain. Hoping be the cure, only for the two letters on them, a sily, eccentric story is developed.

With an...overweight final - the last scene is so ambiguous them can be interpreted in many ways.

The significant scenes - maybe the conversation with the talkative anniversary cake .

In short, syringes with colored contain and two dudes in a barn.

There's no doubt that We Forgot About the Zombies is a comedy short film. The humor kicks in just 15 seconds in and keeps going almost non-stop throughout its three-minute runtime. And since it's a dark zombie horror comedy, you can also expect plenty of gore and blood.

The story follows two men fleeing an approaching zombie horde who stumble upon some mysterious syringes they believe are a cure for the outbreak-based on the partial words they can make out on the labels. It's a fun film with plenty of comedic moments, but in the end, it just wasn't for me. If you enjoy Leslie Nielsen-style humor, this might be right up your alley.

No pun intended - I can only guess that this was done as a bit of ... well poking fun (ha, another pun, having fun) at the pandemic and the response ... overall that is. On the other hand, it can work without that background either. And you can say that it either criticizes the reaction or lack thereof ... there is a lot of things that we can learn or hopefully do differently next time around ... which hopefully won't happen anytime soon.

The short movie is well done and is really funny ... you have to have a weird sense of humor of course ... and just dig a bit of craziness to say the least. The actors are really good too ... and the effects ... well they work too. Just never forget about the zombies .... if you value your life.